Outsider
by Recidivism
Summary: Starrk awakes up in Seireitei with foggy memories after the winter war. While searching for Lilynette, a scuffle with a bunch of annoying shinigami draws unwanted attention from a certain sake loving Taichou and his white hair companion.


Outsiders

Rated T

No pairings as of yet.

Summary: Starrk awakes up in Seireitei with foggy memories after the winter war. While searching for Lilynette, a scuffle with a bunch of annoying shinigami draws unwanted attention from a certain sake loving Taichou and his white hair companion.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of it's components.

* * *

**Prologue**

I am not alone.

xXx

_The man regarded his younger female counterpart with something akin to interest. Curiosity for the child that was once a part of him -or who he was before- was barely hidden within his gaze. The girl carefully avoided his scrutinization and stared steadily at the sand._

_They sat in comfortable silence. Neither were willing to disturb the peace between them. For a long time, not one of them spoke. Until the man broke the silence._

_"...Do you have a name?" He sounded unsure of himself. But his stare pinned the green haired girl down._

_A few seconds later, the girl replied. "...Lilynette." She spoke softly, with a voice that hadn't been used for a long time. She peered shyly from under her fringe and through her helmet. "What about you, do you have a name?" Lilynette paused, before continuing. "Even though you're me."_

_His name? The man glanced uncomprehendingly at the odd girl who was him yet at the same time was not. What was his name? Did he had one? _

xXx

I am **not** alone.

xXx

_'Starrk. My name is Coyote Starrk.' A voice told him._

_"Starrk." He blinked. **Starrk. **He didn't know where that might have came from but somehow... it felt right. It was then he notice their nude forms._

_A ragged cloak was unceremoniously tossed to the girl. She took it almost gingerly and wrapped the cloth around her._

_"...Starrk..." If Starrk noticed how Lilynette spoke his name slowly, as if savouring the word, he didn't comment nor react in any form. Together, the two sat on the dry sand, watching the lone moon in the sky._

_A second silence similar to the first filled the air. This one, however, lasted much shorter. "Starrk." Lilynette whispered. Her voice was so soft, had it not been for Starrk's keen senses, he wouldn't have heard her. He didn't reply, silently waiting for the girl -me- to speak her mind._

_"What will we do now...?"_

xXx

I... am not alone.

xXx

_Starrk stared vacantly at the moon, the question echoing in his mind._

_'What will we do now?'_

_Much like how he knew his name, the answer to the girl's question was instinctive._

_"We can do anything." He kept his back faced to her, waiting for her reply. It came quick enough._

_"...Okay." He could feel her gaze upon him. "Then... Where shall we go?"_

_"Wherever." Starrk answered easily without turning. Her stare became more intense. For reasons he could not explain, he could feel an odd sense of longing and desperation for a companion (a friend, somebody, anyone will do) from the girl - something that he understood all too clearly. They were both of the same soul._

xXx

I...

Lilynette...

I am...

xXx

_"But..." Starrk still didn't turn back. But he knew he had the green haired girl's full attention. A soft smile crossed his face. "Let's stick together."_

_Lilynette smiled too._

xXx

I... I am...

...alone?

xXx

_"Forever."_

xXx

With that last thought resonating in his mind, he took his last breath.

...

_Or was it...?_

* * *

"Nhhnn..." Starrk groaned. It was bright.

Far too bright.

The Primera Espada murmured something unhappily and flung the back of his hand over his eyes in a futile attempt to block out the light. Why was it so bright anyway? Starrk's forehead creased together to form a slight frown. He didn't remember turning the lights on in the first place and were they supposed to be this bright...?

An eye opened. Followed by the other.

Starrk blinked dazedly at the open sky. Upon realising that the sky was indeed real, and he had not been hallucinating, he leisurely got to his feet. Unhurried, he surveyed his surroundings. And stared uncomprehendingly at what he saw. At the birds twittering on the trees around him. At the lush green field with colourful flowers of every kind scattered throughout the area. At the town buzzing with activity beneath the mountain he stood on.

Starrk flopped back onto the ground.

What happened? Where was everyone? Surely Aizen-sama hadn't just abandoned him, had he?

A split second passed. Then, it all came back to him. The war against shinigami. The odd half-hollow beings. The captains rallying. Aizen-sama betraying him and the other espadas. It was all distorted to him though, he could hardly make out the faces of any of the captains. The clearest image he could conjure of his opponents was a splash of pink and white, shadows, blood and wolves. Wolves. _Lilynette._

**_Lilynette._**

Where was she? Starrk sat up straight, back stiff and shoulders tensed. He instinctively felt for the link between him and Lilynette that they formed years ago, reaching out to her, to her mind, to anything. The bond was so close, just within his reach, if only he could grasp it...

_No! _Starrk gasped out loud as the link slipped through his fingers like liquid. _Lilynette... _The former Primera very nearly cried out in distress, but the emotions present on his face spoke all his words for him. He tried searching for the bond again, only for it to seemingly dissipate the moment his fingers brushed it.

He slumped back onto the ground, defeated. His only consolation was in the fact that Lilynette was still alive, as the bond was still present but being irritatingly illusive. He couldn't say much for her health. Which concerned him greatly.

The former Espada lay on the patch of grass, unmoving. Soon, he drifted off to sleep, the stress and worry from the war finally taking its toll on him.

Had he actually paid attention to his current state of being, he would have noticed the few but noticeable changes made to his body, such as his missing bone bits, odd clothing and a sword fastened to new sash.

Not to mention his very distinct lack of a hollow hole.

* * *

Elsewhere, in the slums of Rukongai district 79, a young green haired girl shook her head in confusion at the hurricane of emotions invading her mind. Why did she felt like that anyway? She had an inkling that those emotions were not her own... Nah, that's impossible. The girl rubbed her head once more to ward off the headache she had felt coming. 'Lilynette...' She frowned. _Lilynette... _Why did that name sounded so familiar? And that disembodied voice speaking to her... why did she feel like she should know it?

"Lilynette." The girl spoke, testing the new word out. Was that her name? Slowly, she smiled.

She liked it.

* * *

Author's Note: Cuz I love Starrk and Lilynette. I love Shunsui and Jushiro too. Updates will probably be irregular, with me being a typical ass and busy as hell. Sorry if the characters were too OOC for yeh liking. Reviewing would make the author very happy.


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